Awake
by CrimsonAnjel
Summary: Love is... a work in progress. [Taito. Shounen ai.]
1. Sleepless Nights Tai

Credit must be paid where credit is due. Without the help of my dear friend, Sparkle, this chapter as well as my brain would be as muddled as a bag of Halloween candy. I thank her eternally.

**A/N:** Apparently Tai's mom is named Yuuko. Considering I hate that name, I am using my good buddy Tyson Foxflame's name for her, Ami. I give her full rights and credit for that name. Any complaints? Good. Enjoy!

**Warnings for this chapter:** Profanity, MxM yaoi pairing (Taito), references to sex. Respect the rating.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own nor claim rights to any Digimon characters or references made herein.

* * *

**Awake**

**Chapter 1: **

**Sleepless Nights**

**By: CrimsonAnjel**

* * *

Red digits displayed two a.m.; my boyfriend lay sound against me, thin lower back braced against my crotch, sweet-smelling hair against my face. I've always loved how his body attaches to mine; when we lay together I let my arm fall over his midsection and press against his warm chest.

It does nothing for my insomnia to have such a beauty lying so close.

"…Yama?" I whispered after a thought, using my favorite epithet for Yamato.

After a moment, he breathed a response. A short, pseudo-annoyed huff he loved to use in order to shut me up when he didn't feel like talking.

"Uh," I spoke slowly, "your hair smells good."

The comment sat still in the air for a minute as he adjusted his spot on the bed, then, "Thanks."

"I-I mean…" What did I mean? "What shampoo did you use? Err… nevermind."

He'd hate it now if I dropped the conversation—especially after waking him to say something so lame.

"You know I have a Calc. test tomorrow. Can we talk about my hair products later?" He sighed and scooted closer, knowing full-well that I wasn't responsible for anything I'd say after midnight.

I smiled towards the wall. "Actually, I did have an ulterior motive in waking you up."

Either annoyed or amused, he hit my chest slightly. "What was it?"

"Well, I mean… it's still about your shampoo. Sort of." I curled my leg around his mischievously. "See," I breathed into his ear deliberately, "it sort of made me…horny. That shampoo mixed with your smell… I can't sleep."

"You can't sleep anyway, idiot."

"But—but I'm serious! It's your fault I'm still horny, even after the last few hours."

"Your logic never fails to amaze, lovely." I whimpered and rubbed my hand across his chest meaningfully.

"Please?"

"Uh-uh." And the covers made their way over his head.

"Your hair smells really good so it's your fault I'm horny, right?"—I covered his mouth through the fabric—"Don't answer that. But here's the deal. We can either do it one more time or, _unfortunately, _you'll have my boner pressed against you for the rest of the night."

"Right now you deserve to be uncomfortable," he mumbled from somewhere underneath. "You're annoying as hell."

I laughed and tugged at the covers. "Did I mention I'll probably dry-fuck you if you don't help me out?" I underlined the statement by grinding into him once or twice, producing a yelp and a shove.

"Ew! God, that's gross, Tai!" He slammed the covers down, trying to appear annoyed. "You're like a little kid."

As soon as he was open, I rolled over him and wrapped my hands around his waist. Immediately his heart raced and his crotch tightened.

I traveled lower.

"…Please? Your body seems to want it now."

"God damnit." He swallowed and dug his hands into my back. "You're such a fucking pile of hormones. Stop thinking with your dick so late at night."

I grabbed him in one hand. "Stop thinking with yours… Yama."

Hot breath ghosted my shirt, low moans lost in the cotton fabric. He snatched my hand; this would be his last intelligible sentence of the night.

"Fine," he panted. "But you have to do me a favor tomorrow, no matter what. D-deal?" I

"Anything you want, baby."

"Good. Now, just—lay back and pull down your boxers."

--

Kari banged on my door loudly—as usual, what are sisters for?

"Tai, Matt! Wake the fuck up, it's _7:30_!" She would keep banging until one of us opened the door and told her to shut up—along with a good reason.

I shoved Matt slightly. "It's your turn to calm the morning storm."

He shook his head and grimaced. "Uh-uh… I got her last time. 'M tired." He sank deeper into the covers.

"Aw, come on, that was last _Friday_!" I argued with half a brain, more interested in peace and quiet and more sleep. "You're closer. Just _do_ it."

The noise was getting unbearable; I grabbed Matt's pillow to cover my head. Lucky for me, a few harsh words later—a few of which I had to write down—Matt's weight lifted from the mattress.

"ALRIGHT, KARI. AWAKE. UP. GETTING READY. HAPPY? GREAT. GOOD. BYE." The door slammed in her face and he return to the warm covers tense and angry. I loved his one-word sentences—such a turn-on.

Boxers twisted and tight, I finally managed to crawl out of bed. My alarm blared the morning news a few seconds later and, shutting it off with breaking force, I made a mental note to secretly set Kari's alarm for _after_mine, or just destroy it altogether.

Matt then claimed bathroom shortly after, meaning I wouldn't get a shower for another thirty minutes. So, I busied myself making drum beats with my knuckles against the bathroom door to serenade his shower.

He loved it when I did that.

"TAICHI-MOTHERFUCKING-YAGAMI IF YOU TOUCH THE DOOR ONE MORE FUCKING TIME I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!" He just had a funny way of showing it.

Mom poked her head in to check up on us, much like Kari, except she hadn't had her morning coffee yet. I covered my… situation quickly with last night's pants.

She yawned and scratched and grumbled, "Get your boyfriend to hurry up… you don't have all day… not signing 'nother tardy form. I like coffee. Come down for pop-tarts? Good, breakfast is good. You hungry? Tell him to hurry up…" She left and continued rambling all along hallway.

As I dropped the pants I tried to put my mind together I was met with a door to the face. "—The fuck, Matt?! Watch the door, will you?"

"What?" he said nonchalantly. "It's not like you have any more brain cells to lose." I scoffed and was about to mention my 3.9 GPA but my eyes finally regained focus and I realized that he was standing in front of me in a towel. A small towel; low on his waist; little flecks of water lining his torso; hair wet and mussed.

"Brain cells… Yeah. Dumb… Whatever." My head lolled to the side. _Maybe the line in that towel goes far enough… just an inch further and—_

"Tai! Wake up and unglue your eyes from my _crotch_ for one second please."

He was probably saying something important. "Have I ever told you I think you're the sexiest man alive?"

"Have I ever yelled 'TAKE A SHOWER BEFORE WE'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL'?"

"Yeah… on occasion," I agreed. "And I'd already be _done _shower if Ms. Prissy Perfect didn't scrub each god damn toe nail for five minutes!"

"Shut up… You stink; go. " He ushered—shoved—me into the bathroom and slammed the door kindly. "I'll be downstairs," he said. "And I'm borrowing some of your clothes. I forgot an extra pair."

"Hell no!" I yelled over running water. "The last time I let you borrow my clothes I didn't wash them for weeks." I heard the desired the response and the morning routine continued.

Both Kari and Matt were tying their shoes at the front door by the time I thundered down the stairway. Mom was in the kitchen staring at a pot of coffee as it slowly filled.

"Hey, hon. Want a pop-tart or coffee or something? You need food to learn you know."

"What, no pancakes and French toast?"

She deadpanned. It was no secret that Ami Yagami couldn't cook to save China, though she was too tired to throw back an insult so she threw a pop-tart instead and waved me out of the kitchen.

"What," I jeered, "no coffee?" This time, it was Kari who grabbed me.

"Come on, Tai, let's _go_!" I huffed and flopped into the foyer. Matt crammed the pop-tart in my mouth—strawberry, my favorite—and handed me my skateboard. We would be at school in no time.

--

Kari, Matt and I went to a suburban public school called Odaiba West Laurence, whose mascot, ironically, was the Odaiba West Lawrence owl. Acronym jokes were definitely our strong suit.

Everyone was already shuffling inside; we were probably late. Again.

"If I'm late for chemistry one more time Mr. Farmer is going to give me detention." Kari waved goodbye and shouldered her pack. "Bye, guys! Let's hope the old bastard forgets to do attendance."

We waved her off and, after I pulled Matt in for a I would _need _to get through my second period math test, we rushed to our respective classes, skipping lockers altogether.

--

"FAILED! Can you believe it, guys?! I hate Biology so much, it's so unfair!"

Lunch time was always the same. I met up with Matt and Kari and our friends Mimi, Sora, TK, Daisuke—TK's boyfriend—, Izzy, and Joe. As usual, Mimi was well in to her _Oh, Woe is Me! _stage of lunch period; basically, she complained about anything and everything to do with, well, her and we listened… sort of.

"I'm sure it's not going to hurt your grade that much," Sora said kindly after swallowing a bite of Salisbury steak. "We'll study harder next time, ok?" She flashed one of her grins-to-beat-all and effectively shut Mimi up. The drama-friendly girl forked a piece of cantaloupe and sat unsatisfied adjusting her pink tank-top.

Matt squeezed my hand under the table to get my attention. I leaned over so he could whisper in my ear.

"Hey," he began normally.

"Hey. What's up?"

"…I'm sort of worried about starting Gym class this semester," he admitted. "You're not in it with me, right?"

I shook my head and whispered back. "No, why? I'm sure you'll be fine. Why are you worried?"

"I'm not really worried. It's just, Cody's in that class," he explained irritably. I tensed and immediately felt my protective instincts kick in. Cody was a part of the some 20 students at Odaiba who were practicing bigots and homophobes. He especially hated me and Matt and had it out for us ever since we pissed him off freshmen year by violating the precious PDA code: Public Display of Affection. The only reason he hadn't messed with us this year was because we got bigger than him over the summer and were rarely seen alone. He would almost definitely try to start shit during Gym class if he thought he could get away with it.

"I've kicked his ass before and I can do it again," I offered willingly. Matt shook his head and frowned.

"Not this time. Remember how pissed I got the _last_ time you decided to step in? It's my fight. You don't have to protect me; I can handle myself any day, Tai."

"I know you can. I was just trying to make you feel better…"

He nodded and stabbed at his food irritably.

"Do you want to skip next period or something?"

"No. I'll see you after class."

The bell rang and he left first. As everyone else got up to leave, TK approached me separately.

"Hey dude, what's up with Matt?" he asked cautiously. "He looks pissed or something."

"It's nothing," I replied harsher than I meant. "He just… doesn't want to go to Gym class… Cody."

He mouth _oh _as Daisuke walked up behind him, snaking an arm around TK's waist.

"What about Gym class?" he cut in.

"Don't worry about it," I said and tossed my tray on the dirty rack.

Dais frowned. "Oh, bummer. Why not?" TK clamped his mouth shut and answered for me. He was great at reading moods.

"Because he just doesn't, babe." He began leading Dais away. "Let Tai deal with it," he whispered audibly into Daisuke's ear. Then, to me, "Later, man!"

As they walked away, Dais looked back over his shoulder still frowning; TK pulled him into a kiss to get his mind off the new information. A few girls giggled and swooned, whispering the usual "Why do all the hot ones have to be gay?"

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Ok, I'm cutting it off there because I'm doing every other chapter POVs between Tai and Matt and the next scene is… all Matt. Expect updates often. I'm putting a lot of effort into editing this so, if you have the time, let me know what you think in a review. As always, thank you for reading and I look forward to continuing this fic! 


	2. Nasty Catalyst Yamato

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay. No excuses, really. I hope you enjoy this chapter and review! I'm older now… I really don't care to continue if I don't get feedback, sorry.

**Warnings for this chapter: **Profanity, as always.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon.

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**Awake**

**Chapter 2:**

**Nasty Catalyst**

**By: CrimsonAnjel**

* * *

"Alright, class," Mr. Werner began smartly. "I know some of you are struggling to win over a gym credit." He eyed a few of the fat kids. "And I know it's not always your… fault." Though his tone translated loud and clear, _You're a bunch of fat, useless retards_. "But if you try your hardest and hydrate often"—he never let us take a water break—"I know you'll succeed!"

A few grumbles followed his lame speech and, with a visible shrug and another obnoxious blow of his whistle, the coach ordered us to line up.

Cody—standing next to me intentionally—started the period off perfectly as soon as the coach was out of earshot. "So, fag," Eloquent as always, "you gonna play ball with the big boys today?"

I looked at his dumb face… and burst out laughing. It wasn't my choice—he looked like a lit pumpkin with a cut-out frown. Luckily a split second later Mr. Werner passed by and numbered me off, leaving Cody behind to sweat out his failed insult.

It was easy to ignore him—though the same couldn't be said for the tobacco-chew smell he perfumed across the room—until the game started. Then it was hell.

Following me around the court; touch-defending harder than Tai at his horniest; trashing talking in a language I couldn't understand; you name it, he did it to _piss me off._

"What the hell's your problem?!" I yelled finally, stopping mid-court with the ball in hand. Someone protested and told me to pass the ball, but I stood there glaring at the only other ball in the room.

"Why'd you stop the game, faggot? You scared of playin' with a real baller or somethin'?"

"No," I scoffed, automatically balling a fist. "But I _really_ have to wonder what kind ofball _you'r_e talking about since you keep fucking touching me when _your_ team is on _offense._"

He flushed red like a balloon and puffed out his chest. I wondered, absently, hopefully, if a little helium wouldn't make him float away forever.

"Of course I couldn't play ball with a _faggot _without funny business goin' on!" he shot back gracelessly.

"No, see, that's why you're dumb. I was _saying_ that _you're _the fag, if anyone."

By then everyone had given up basketball for a more enjoyable spectator sport. A few students already cheered on the fight before it happened; I only registered it when my whole vision was bombarded by two-hundred pounds of angry hick. For a quick, slow-motion second I saw the coach running at us from across the court, then Cody was on me faster than anyone his size should've been able to move.

My instincts caught up with the situation very willingly, and in the same split-second I saw him I heard a crunch; and felt a throbbing, electric pain shoot up my arm.

Then a pair of hands wrenched me off my feet entirely.

"WHAT THE HELL'S GOTTEN INTO YOU?" a voice bellowed, muffled by the adrenaline pumping through my eardrums.

I looked down unrecognizing at the large, blurrly outline of Cody… on the floor, clutching a bloody nose.

_I got a punch across? Holy—_

"_Yamato!_" the voice shouted again, "I _said _what the _hell's_ gotten into you?"

_I punched him._ "I—"

My vision unveiled completely and the coach's low growl hit my ears again. "_Well?!_"

"He…" _Is his nose broken? _I looked closer. It probably was, which was good enough for me; I didn't have any urge to tell him about the fag comment anymore, not that I would've for pride alone. There's a lot to be said for pure satisfaction. "He ran at me. Self—self defense," I sputtered lamely.

"You call _that _self defense, boy?!" Mr. Werner yelled unsatisfied, jabbing a finger at Cody's pathetic form. "Someone better tell me what _really _just happened or _both_ of you are getting suspended!" He glared harshly, eyes flitting between me and Cody dangerously. And we remained quiet, shocked. "So…_what__happened?!_ You've got five seconds now—hurry up, _speak!_"

I would be suspended regardless—I knew it—so I kept my mouth shut.

But, ironically, Cody saved us from further damage. He shook his head fearfully and spoke around the injured nose. "D'othing, Coach. I'm fin'."

There was a tense moment's silence… and then Mr. Werner finally shoved me away, uttering something unkind under his breath. "Fine, just… get out of my gym. You can feed me that _crap_, but the principal's not gonna fall for it, got it?" He shooed the crowd back to their positions in the game and eyed us again as if he was surprised we were still standing there. "Are you waiting for fucking invitation?! Out of my gym—_now! Principal's office!_"

I complied and ran away before he could changed his mind.

--

"One week's suspension?!" Tai slapped his forehead incredulously. "What the fuck did you do in _one_ gym class to get _that?_"

I sighed heavily, not really interested in talking about my day more than I needed too. "It's… nothing. Cody just said some shit and I hit him."

"You _hit _him?" He paused for a moment and smiled. "Wait—that's fucking awesome! You hit him?!" He laughed and slammed his locker shut, indicating with his head that we should leave. "Well… god. What'd he say, Yama?"

"The usual…"

"Called you a fag?" I nodded. "Gee, how creative. Have you told him that he's just calling you a cigarette? It's kinda weird, huh!"

"Tai…" Despite myself, I cracked a smile. "We're not in England."

He laughed again and pulled me into a one-arm hug. "You're cute when you take jokes seriously." Kissing me on the temple with a _smack_, he then exclaimed, "Come on, lover, let's blow this popsicle stand… and then maybe you can blow me?"

"You're fucking disgusting; you know that, right?"

Nodding enthusiastically, he donned his famous grin. And I smiled, wishing it would come out as the frown I had intended… just this once.

--

TK grabbed an apple from the kitchen table, took a bite, and pointed at me with a sticky finger. "What the hell were you thinking, Matt? Mom's going to kill you for sure!"

"I know, idiot," I replied irritably as I turned to page 54 of my worn History textbook. "That's why she's never gonna know." I glared meaningfully. "Right?"

"You must be joking!" He took another bite and dropped his loaded backpack on the ground. "She's _gonna _know, Matt; the school _always_ calls your parents when they suspend you. Or did you forget that when you punched that annoying kid in the face?"

"Like you've ever been suspended before, TK. Just shut up and help me make sure they _don't _tell her." I tapped the edge of the ancient tome thoughtfully and searched the page for an answer—not that I was particularly superstitious. _It can't hurt, right?_ I thought helplessly..

My eyes immediately caught the name Alexander Graham Bell.

_He invented the telephone… So I should call the school? Does that even make sense?_

I glanced back at TK who was now busying himself with yesterday's comics page and the rest of his apple.

"I can feel your eyes on me, you know." TK set the apple on the table and wiped his hand on his pant leg. "Wherever you're going with that look, go somewhere else. I'm _not _helping you with this crap. And that's final." Wrestling the newspaper to the next page, he managed a professional look. "Seriously."

"TK." I grabbed his chin from across the table and leveled gazes. "You know how people always say you sound like mom? And then you glare at them or punch them or whatever it is stuck up bastards do?"

"Your point please." He snatched back his page and kept reading.

"My _point?!" _I grabbed the page and tore it out.

"Hey…"

"Come on, Takeru! I think you know what I'm getting at! Just… stand by the phone and when the school calls do your best impression, ok?"

"…Didn't I just say _no _very clearly?"

"Uh, Please?"

Before he could reply, or yell, or walk away, the phone rang. The phone was on the hook and I rushed like a madman to check the caller ID before mom could. And almost had a heart attack. "_TK_, _shit!_" I whispered desperately. Mom was in the next room curled up with a book—this was my only chance. "I'll pay you—_something_—I promise!"

"And what are you going to do all week when mom thinks you're at school?"

"_Just shut up and answer the fucking phone!_"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the receiver, pressing the Talk button. "Hello, Ishida residence. May I ask who is calling?" It was a flawless imitation. "Yes? Oh, yes, I'm Yamato's mother…" Quickly, he ducked into the bathroom so she wouldn't hear.

From the next room: "Yamato, Takeru! Who is it?"

"Just a telemarket, mother!" I called back nervously.

"Oh… all right then."

Not a minute later TK reemerged with an evil smirk on his features. "So… how much are you going to pay me?"

Count on the shrewd little bastard to never forget a promise.

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I'll update as soon as I can. I enjoy writing this fic; it's great for dialogue practice. Teenage boys make for the best conversations, don't you think? --CA 


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